Monday, February 26, 2024

Still here!

 While it's five years since I posted on this blog, I have continued to read posts by the people I follow. For some reason I am unable to post comments. Maybe if I wake up my own blog the problem will be solved.

Five years. Good times. Sad times. Happy times. Anxious times. Frustrating times. Fun times. Loving times. Thankful times. Family times. Couple times. In other words, living normal times.

"Getting old is not for the faint hearted," is an overused saying. But true, I concede. " I AM NOT OLD. I AM 21 WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE," is the sign I picked up on my final trip to New Zealand last year. 

That was my fifth trip during 2023. The one when I held my younger brother as he quietly left his life after very many years of terrible health that challenged his will to live. Eventually he decided it was time to leave, so he did just that, after waiting for me to fulfil my promise to come to be with him as he gently let go of his life. 

On my penultimate trip to support him through a crisis he had held me and, through tears, had said that I had taken care of him when he was a baby and now, here I was taking care of him at the end of his life. As the eldest of a large family, I was the mother from the fourth child down. Something that, as an adult, was far from my own thoughts but not from his or another sibling's memory. I was just six years older than him.

As the eldest child of a large, unhappy family, I bore a lot of responsibility for taking care of my siblings and was held responsible for any of their behaviours. In the dark times my mantra was " The sun always comes up tomorrow." Now, seven decades later, I realise how powerful holding on to that mantra was. And continues to be so.

So, now after the sun has risen six more times, my husband of fifty seven years and I will embark on the most complex holiday of our lifetime. One month in Vietnam. Complex because we are now both physically challenged and it seems half of our 14 kg packed baggage consists of medicines and emergency snacks. And my walking stick.

I ask myself if I am crazy to take a month long holiday in a country that, according to the travel experts on Trip Advisor, appears to be more challenging to travel around than any other country we've been to in the region. A country where many local tours have an upper age limit of 75 or 80. 

I'm not fainthearted, so when the sun comes up in a few days we'll be heading to the airport in an uber, armed with those tricky to get visas, a flexible itinerary which includes an intention to visit four places, each for a week, taking each day as it comes, said medicines and emergency diabetic snacks, travel insurance, and loads of information of private tour/transport providers who will hopefully disregard the upper age limits of advertised tours.

Getting excited for our first major overseas trip since we snuck back into the country the day before the covid borders shut Australia for a very long time.

Hello, Vietnam!




Friday, March 9, 2018

From Perth to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

I've had a long break from this blog due to serious family issues and work on another one 

http://www.awesomesrilankanholiday.com/

however I am back now and currently loving a visit to the southern part of Western Australia. So much so that I am motivated to show why I think it is a glorious holiday destination.
Great Eastern Highway, Perth to Kalgoorlie - Boulder
We flew from Brisbane, a flight of 5 hours, and picked up a rental SUV at the airport. A SUV is not really needed, however being used to strong cars, that was my choice. Rental cars cannnot be taken off road and that has precluded some sightseeing but HEY ! there's so much to see we haven't had the time anyway.

Time. That's an issue for us on this trip because we are not carrying our bed and kitchen around with us and cannot therefore be flexible with our route, spending a satisfying time at each place or choosing to stop or go on depending on what we like at that point in time. This predetermined route and booked accommodation is very restrictive despite my months of pre travel research to try to work out good bases but, again, HEY ! That's now the only way we can get to see this amazing part of the country. So, here we go!

Thanks to the two hour time difference between Brisbane and Western Australia and despite our late night arrival, we were up early and on the road by 7am for the 600km drive to Kalgoorlie. I had chosen a motel on the Great Eastern Highway simply because it was both near to the airport and also on the route we needed to follow so leaving the city was easy. We were soon driving through the Perth Hills district and then out on the open road.

Following the water pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie
Once out of the Greater Perth area we noticed that we were following a large pipe line along the long, straight road.  Water! This pipeline is Kalgoorlie's lifeline as there's no water in Kalgoorlie where the average rainfall is 260mm annually. For most of the distance the railway track kept the pipeline company.

Our first stop came soon at Northam where we stocked up on essential food and water and looked  for a cafe to have a coffee. Oh dear! The cafe wasn't open and a notice on the door informed us that it was a public holiday. So, that's why there wasn't much traffic on the road!

Coffee-less, we carried on looking for a rest area to have a do-it-yourself one. Although packing a flask and mugs into our light travel bag had been tricky, without these we would have had to go without a drink or even snack in this sparsely populated and therefore cafe and shop starved region.

Rest areas. Well, there really aren't any along the road. The rest areas, designated as "Parking" are red dirt patches at the side of the highway and nothing else. So far, after a week in this part of the state we have seen just one with a table. inconveniently, sign posts advising of "Parking" or small settlements or points of interest come a few metres before the turn or place so U turns were often necessary.

Earthquake Memorial at Meckering, Western Australia
One such U turn we made was at Meckering where I spotted a sign saying "Earthquake Memorial".  I was immediately interested. What earthquake? When? What happened? Why haven't I heard of this previously? Then came the thought, " I thought I got away from earthquakes when I left New Zealand."  How wrong was that thought! The Information board gave all the details and it turned out that when it happened in 1968, I was living far away in a remote part of Sri Lanka where I didn't get ANY news. This earthquake's epicentre was directly below the town, lasted for 40 seconds and was felt in Perth 130km to the west and Esperance and Albany on the South Coast.

I also learned that, although it did the most damage, it was not the biggest earthquake in Australia. That title goes to an earthquake in 1941 [ a couple of years before my birth so no wonder I didn't know that] near Meeberrie, 690km North East of Perth. Furthermore Perth is apparently in an earthquake risk place with a major fault line, the Darling Faultline extending north - south for 980km. My complacence around earthquakes in Australia has evaporated.

This part of the State is an important wheat and cereal growing area so we passed harvested paddocks and large grain silos at places along the train line.
Merredin, Western Australia
By the time we reached Merredin we were gasping for that elusive coffee and ready to eat! We found a lovely park and rest area just off the highway by the railway station but all the parking spots were taken and there were very many people occupying the picnic tables and sitting on the grass. It was, after all, the first rest stop after Perth 260km away. We decided to  take the remaining table opposite the station carpark beside the road. How many police cars does this wheatbelt town need! As we ate, one after another stopped so that officers could run into the bakery - the only shop open - to get some lunch!
Salt pans, Great Northern Highway, Northern Australia
We were now half way along our journey. As we sped along, the landscape changed and I was surprised to see some white areas behind the vegetation that lined the road. Salt? Yes. I was to learn that salt water under the ground is a big feature of this part of Western Australia.
Gimlet trees, eucalyptus
These really beautiful eucalyptus trees are found only in this part of Australia. We picked a couple of leaves to enjoy their distinctive aroma and found that they were also quite oily. At times they made a colourful picture lining segments of the highway.
Gimlet Eucalyptus trees along the Great Eastern Highway
Southern Cross was our last break. From there the roadside vegetation thinned out markedly and there were no marked points of interest to explore.  


I was happy to arrive in Kalgoorlie around 3.00pm. Even happier to find that our accommodation was the street behind Kalgoorlie's CBD and that the pub was open for dinner on this Public Holiday!
Kalgoorlie Hotel








Sunday, October 25, 2015

Kerala Backwaters - Nedumudi, Alappuzha

The backwaters of Kerala are high on the list of "must sees" for almost every visitor to Kerala so that's where we headed to by car from Kovalam. These backwaters are dominated by the massive 2033km2 Lake Vembanad.  Fed by ten large rivers as well as many smaller ones and interlaced by a network of canals, Vembanad is the largest waterway in India. Stretching from near Alappuzha to Kochi [ Cochin] it is 96km long. 

Separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow barrier island with another barrier to ensure that the sea water is kept out engineered near Kuttanad, its water irrigates the below sea level rice paddy fields. In the wet season the paddy fields' verdant quilt covers the land.

More than a million people live in the villages along the palm fringed canals, surviving by farming rice and fishing. The tourism economy here is huge with an overnight houseboat cruise being one of the "must do" activities on most visitors' lists. This was not our plan though. Instead we chose to stay in a canal side guest house and to take a shakira ride for a few hours and spend time walking around the canal side villages. 


Nedumudi Central -where I thought we would be located
This was not to be! As we entered the backwaters area it was soon became clear that the place we were looking for was not well known! Not even people living in the area knew of it. Phone calls to the guest house resulted in confusing our driver even more. Google Earth indicated that it was located in the middle of a waterway. I had gone to the ipad to look for alternative accommodation when we came to the end of the narrow dirt road. Waterway ahead! A large four wheel drive vehicle skidded to a halt beside us and two large Indian guys jumped out, strode to the edge of the water and scanned upstream. 

"The boat's coming!" they told the two women who were trailing behind. 

"Are you going to Holly Hock Resort?" I asked, hoping that Google Earth had misled us. " We were supposed to be at a waterside village, not seemingly in the middle of a watery nowhere. "Do you know where it is?

The answer to both questions was "Yes!" so that's how we found ourselves on a boat with two other couples heading upstream to our Backwater destination. No village. No other dwellings. Just a guesthouse on the quiet side of the Kollam - Kottapuram Waterway. Very picturesque. Very quiet. All rooms occupied.
On the way to our guest house
All rooms occupied and the biggest and best located room reserved for the foreign guests. Until we found that the aircon was not working, we appreciated the generous gesture to foreign tourists. After several staff went through the motions of trying to fix it, then trying to persuade us that it was actually working, albeit just a "little bit," the admission came that the problem was a long term one. It was then revealed that the other rooms were occupied by honeymoon couples and that they really needed air conditioning more than we did, hence the room allocation! OK! We'll manage with the fan. A very grinding one!

Houseboat, Kerala Backwaters
The remainder of the day passed very pleasantly, seated on the verandah watching a steady stream of houseboats chugging upstream. Some of them parked for the night a little further upstream, confirming my decision that staying on one was not for us. Travelling just seventeen kilometres before stopping for the night means that most of the time is spent sitting bank side. At first light they start the return trip so as to be ready to leave at noon for their next hire. Although tourism brings major dollars to the Backwaters it also brings problems. Healthy water ways are essential for crop production and fishing and local people are concerned at the high number of them polluting the waterways. In the mornings I observed some staff on the returning houseboats heaving the rubbish off the back. No wonder the banks have plastic drink bottles bobbing around in significant numbers. 
Houseboats moored for the night

After a very nice dinner, served on our verandah, we decided to have an early night and, despite the lack of aircon, we were soon sound asleep. At 1am I awoke feeling thirsty and put my feet on the tiled floor. In less than a second I was right back on my bed. The light of a hastily found torch revealed that the floor was now a carpet of frogs! Jumping shiny frogs! Fortunately my drink bottle was handy so in bed I stayed until morning light sent the frogs back outside to hide. Sam however, did not sleep well after that. He was worried that snakes would be looking for a frog snack. Fortunately one of the honeymoon couples checked out and we were able to move to an aircon and a frog safe room for our remaining two nights.
Evening on the Kerala backwaters
 Mornings on the water are quietly busy with men in dugout canoes crossing their water road presumably going to work.

Fisherman
This fisherman came both early morning and early evening to check his many crab pots. He got only a few tiddlers. Not even enough for a mouthful.
Kollam- Kottapuram Waterway, Kerala
School bus
The school bus was the fastest vehicle!

Patching up the banks.
Behind the fringe of palm and banana trees is intensive rice farming.


Essential items that are always packed for our holidays overseas are a bottle of brandy and the gear to make tea and coffee and a block of cheese. On arrival we get fruit and crackers and some other nibbles to have on hand.  Without those necessities we would have have been very thirsty and hungry at this guesthouse. Once all the honeymooners had checked out, everything on the menu was "finished", promises to take the boat and bring provisions broken without comment. The staff disappeared, reappearing only briefly to serve lunch and dinner before again disappearing again until breakfast! We were literally on our own!
Nedumudi, Kerala
Although this experience was not what we planned we were quite happy to laze quietly, watching the activity on the waterway, the cormorants and sea eagles fishing, the company of a couple of blue kingfishers, ducks and several other types of birds. Cricket was on the TV, I had books and Sudoku to do and a siesta in between.
Nedumudi, Kerala Backwaters
On departure we realised that we had indeed been very lost in getting to Nedumudi. We had been on the wrong side of the waterway and several kilometres out as well. Google maps had been correct though! Our destination was in the middle of a waterway! Give or take a few metres!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

An auto rickshaw ride around Trivanduram, Kerala

Tuk tuks or auto rickshaws are very useful vehicles in places such as India and Sri Lanka because they can scoot around in the most unlikely places, are cheap to run and therefore to hire and there are many hundreds of them just waiting for you to hop in and pay for their keep. Hundreds of them, in just a small area. That's the problem, as, while they are efficient in getting you from place to place, even mounting a footpath it there is one, they seriously clog all the roads. At least the driving behaviour is better here.
Poppin and his tuk tuk
One morning we hired Poppin and his tuk tuk to take us to Trivanduram principally to sort out a sim card problem that was causing Sam some anguish and then to have a look around Trivanduram. After a breakfast of dosa we left early, hoping to  beat the heat. 
Dosa, photo from Teresa

It took some effort zipping here, crawling there, in narrow streets, waiting at traffic lights before we finally found the office. Two minutes in the cool and the problem was fixed - the booth at the airport had neglected to give us the correct code as had the people on the end of all the help seeking calls we had made. At last, a happy man and his ipad!
A women friendly auto rickshaw
As I see it the issue of safety from assault, abuse and more is an issue at varying levels for women almost anywhere in the world and arises from the absence of gender equality. While, tragically, women are most at risk in their own homes, travelling, even short distances brings its own such problems. I was delighted to see a few of these tuk tuks displaying their pink women friendly signs. In other countries I have traveled in women only carriages of commuter trains and I am currently advocating for women and children only buses in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. But that's another story.

Here in Trivanduram the pink rickshaws were started by the City Police a couple of years ago after women made very many complaints of abuse, harassment and fleecing.The drivers are usually male and have been carefully selected and trained in how to behave towards women passengers. Men may also use these tuk tuks however women have priority. There are now at least two other women friendly transport options, one of them a taxi service called SheTaxis. As women make up about half the population [ "about" because of reported gender selection practices in this part of the world] I can see these businesses doing very well! There are now a few women driving rickshaws here and in other parts of India - something unheard of and impossible just a few years ago.

For most part of the trip I was hanging out of the tuk tuk taking pictures, very few of which were useful except as a memory of the day. I was delighted to see the wide variety of colours of the school uniforms - so much more attractive than the universal white of the Sri Lankan ones.

Sometimes the streets were so narrow I had the merchandise displays brush my face as we passed!
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivanduram
The Sree Padmanabhswamy Temple is a very important religious site to those of the Hindu faith. Housing  gold and precious stones, it is said to be the wealthiest temple in this part of the world, Lord Vishnu is its principal deity, bringing devotees from far and wide to worship. As we are not of the Hindu faith we were denied entrance. This exclusion of non Hindus is apparently quite usual here in Kerala, although not elsewhere, notably at Hindu temples in Sri Lanka.
As we couldn't go inside, we were left to people watch.
 
I wondered if there was a special ritual taking place because all the males in many family groups went into side rooms and later appeared bare chested, as is a requirement for men entering Hindu temples, and wearing new gold bordered sarongs and shawls. The women then joined them for a family photo. They then entered the temple.
Keralan Lunch
After a lovely Keralan lunch it was nap time in the cool for these two plus aged travellers!

Arrival in God's Own Country, Kerala and Kovalam

Welcome to Kerala, God's Own Country proclaimed the sign! 

What a relief it was to get off that Sri Lankan Airlines hour long flight from Katunayake, Sri Lanka to Trivanduram, India and have our feet firmly planted on solid land! 

Unfortunately for us, the welcome lasted just long enough for me to read the sign as, when I placed my passport on front of the immigration officer, I was left in no doubt that I had already outlived any such welcome. 

The problem was that my racial appearance bore no resemblance to the family name on my passport, so the logic of the Immigration authority was that my passport was fake. When I pulled my husband forward and explained that, on our marriage some forty seven years ago, I had taken his name, the hostility moved directly and squarely in his face. While my visa was examined by three other officers, stamped and orders given to me to "Go Away!' he was kept for ten minutes and haranged for marrying an inferior Western woman instead of one of his own race. We were to find out that this marriage was widely disapproved of in Kerala with Sam being treated as a "bought boy" by restaurant staff and two hotels and one home stay refusing to allow us to share a room until we produced evidence that we were, indeed, married. This had happened to us in Sri Lanka when we were younger but came as a huge shock now.
Devi Kripa Home stay hosts
We finally escaped the airport to be met by our first Keralan home stay hosts, Anil and Lekha, whose warm friendliness quickly overcame any surprise at seeing our unconventional partnership.
Devi Kripa Home Stay, Kovalam
Kerala is a Communist governed State, something we decided had both advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that the tourism sector of the economy is very well organised for do it yourself travellers, something Sri Lanka could well take a look at. I found it easy to find home stay options because every home stay has to be registered, is audited yearly and ranked in a three tier category system. Devi Kripa Home Stay in Kovalam, has a well deserved top Gold Star rating. On arrival we were amazed to see that we had two levels to ourselves. Upstairs was a good sized bedroom complete with aircon and large "wet" kind of bathroom while downstairs we had a kitchen and sitting room. The bedroom was tastefully furnished with a large wardrobe, dressing table and stool as well as in room tea and coffee making equipment. The balconies provided a lovely sit out in the cooler early mornings and evenings.

I was not feeling at all well after eating what I had thought was a home cooked meatball just hours before we left Sri Lanka, so for the first two days I could not enjoy the beautifully cooked Keralan dishes that had been thoughtfully prepared for us. Neither could we put into action our prepared sightseeing plan, instead resting quietly in the aircon and being thankful that our home stay was down a quiet lane away from the main road where smelly rubbish was being swept up and burned roadside.

Our first night coincided with  a religious procession with the Goddess from the local temple being paraded around the narrow streets of the neighourhood. Feeling unwell, I had to give up my plan to join the procession and slept soundly despite the fireworks and music that lasted until first light. In the morning we hopped in an auto rickshaw aka tuk tuk and went around the narrow winding lanes to see the decorations and shrines outside the homes of devotees.
Hindu goddess
The photo does not do justice to this temporary street shrine with its offerings of grapes, apples, pineapples, melons, flowers and garlands. It was a wonderful display of devotion!
After following the procession's route and noting that groups of people were cleaning up the discarded water bottles and food wrappers, we continued to the Kovalam beaches.
Kovalam beach
There are four small beaches, each one separated by a rocky outcrop. As we were there at the end of the tourist season, the many seaside restaurants and shops were having a quiet time. Accommodation here is in the budget range.
Kovalam beach
The Lighthouse Beach seemed to be the most popular one today with quite a few men in the water while the women merely wet their ankles at the edge.
Lighthouse Beach, Kovalam, Kerala
Unlike beaches here in Australia, there were no public change rooms so my lukewarm idea of a sea dip was banished in favour of a very much needed back massage.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Aluthgama and Bentota

Ahhh! Bentota!  That expansive white - yellow sand on a palm fringed beach is an excellent choice for holiday makers seeking sun, sand and a relaxed holiday!
Bentota Beach
A popular destination for holiday package tourists, Bentota, now an easy one hundred or so kilometre drive from Katunayake airport, has much on offer, especially beach and water based activities of snorkelling, diving, wind surfing, water skiing. We travelled smoothly on the new expressway, which, while it is an easier ride,  misses the hustle and sights of the old Galle Road.
Bentota River
Our holiday apartment was in Aluthgama, across the road from the Bentota River, so  I was soon sitting on the river bank watching some jet ski fun, boats returning from cruises a well as small boats adorned with fishing rods heading upstream for a bit of tourist fishing. The river cruise was a great hit with one family who excitedly reported seeing baby crocodiles and water lizards. 
That's a baby one!

As I sat and watched the world glide by, I acquired a curious, but shy, companion who gazed at me with gorgeous eyes until an adult's command had him run safely home.
Kindergarten class
It is forty years since we last visited Bentota and we were here to visit friends who had been targeted in  racial and religious riots some months back. Their homes still in disrepair, they welcomed us so cheerfully and generously that breakfast was the only meal of any day that we found for ourselves. By day, we were taken by tuk tuk to explore wherever we wanted, returning to one of the extended family's homes for lunch and to another home for the evening meal. Despite their ordeal, the reality of living in homes still under major repair and difficulty in knowing whom they could trust, they were cheerful and seemed hopeful of better things to come. 
One morning I was able go with my host family to visit a kindergarten and also a junior class. The kindergarten children start lessons very early and took a breakfast break soon after my arrival so I was able to chat with the teachers about their lessons and hopes. When I visit again, I plan on taking acrylic paints and accessories for the children to have an opportunity to be creative with their art. Such things are luxury in schools here where education is learned so formally. I visit several schools whenever I come here and notice that the curriculum in this country seems so restrictive considering the rapid changes in technology, the elimination of many clerical jobs and high need for coding skills in the future. Of course, those in this country who have money and power have their children in more up to the minute private schools, studying an international curriculum and receiving private tuition before going overseas to University.
Near Beruwala
It was a sobering tuk tuk ride around the coast road from Bentota to Beruwala. This area was very badly affected by the December 26th, 2004 tsunami which took more than 35,000 lives in Sri Lanka. Very many more than that, is my opinion as I had  travelled by train from the South of the country during the week before the tsunami and had been appalled by the seemingly wall to wall shanties, teaming with children, that lined the coast between the track and high tide line from Galle to almost Mount Lavinia. Most of those shanty dwellers would not have been registered and therefore, not counted. I did hear very recently that the numbers of people lost were being raised. While we saw a plaque in the ground and a community centre that had been built with tsunami money, I couldn't bring myself to take photos. Too, too, sad.
Masjidul Abrar Mosque
We found the oldest mosque in Sri Lanka on standing atop the peninsular in Beruwala. Built in 920AD by the Arab traders it is a remarkable landmark between the ocean and the fishing harbour. We spent an informative and peaceful hour here being shown around by a young man who, having noted our progress along the road from Bentota, was ready to offer his services. His tour was very enjoyable so we were happy to respond to his request for payment for his time. I do wish he hadn't given us one of the usual hardship stories though.
Fishing boats at Beruwala
The day was very still and not too hot for our tuk tuk tour. Younger tourists were also out exploring but by bike, scooter or motorbike and we met up at the icecream tuk tuk. I learned that some of the hotels make bikes available for their guests and I think it a great way to explore this flat area.
Beruwala beach
After our cool ice cream stop, we headed away from the beach and soon saw a massive Buddha dwarfing the people and tuk tuks parked below. This gigantic seated Buddha was a recent addition to an ancient Kande Viharaya Temple and is said to be the tallest sitting Buddha statue in the world. Thinking of all the other "Big" constructions elsewhere in the world [ bananas, pineapples, kiwi fruits etc] it would be a shame for such a relevant philosophy that Buddhism is, to be so cheapened by a desire to be the biggest. The recent proliferation of such statues everywhere doesn't sit well with my understandings of the principles of Buddhism which has at its core the fundamental idea that there is no happiness in greed, pretense, ego and so on. In fact most sermons have references to letting go of ego, emotions and the causes of personal suffering. To me, the lessons from Buddhism include the realisation that I am but a microscopic spec in the passing of the ages, my ego is irrelevant.
Samdhi Buddha, Beruwala
Kande Viharaya Buddha, Bentota
As my companion was becoming tired I wasn't able to go inside to see the paintings of the Buddhist stories and I look forward to doing that on another trip.
Bo Tree, Bentota
Just outside the temple gate there is a impressive Bo tree, encircled by shrines.

So, that's a glimpse of Bentota through my eyes! 

Note for travellers: 
Weatherwise, if water sports and the beach is the attraction for you the seas are at their best here from around November to April. There are so many other things here to explore such as the Portuguese and Dutch history. It's an ideal place for day trips to Galle, the turtle sanctuary at Kosgoda and more. There's accommodation to suit all budgets, plenty of restaurants serving all kinds of food - except western fast foods - and a train station at Aluthgama.